The Searchlight (Cushing, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 21, 1911 Page: 6 of 8
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THE * RCHLlGt T. CU€K1XG, OKLA.
\ ■x'ltjV-t.
WTHE
, atale or the plains
-rby Pahdall Pa»»ism-
Ajtmcs Or'My Lady Gr The; South
"Wmcm Wiu>£PMES6 WAd Kmc. Erc.frc
kxU8TRAT«OMft ft* DgABJKVM HttVIU.'
< Cody right
SYNOPSIS*
McClure
CHArTBR I Jifl; Mth
4«r p'alnan.sm, t» rid In* atone th* _
f « tr-il on tb« lookout for ro*mln« war
MrtiM of laviigM. Kth had. ^
nun aa captain lr> a.
during the civil war. He bad left in*
•ervlce to And hla old •°"th'rt\
aehea. hla frirnda aeatter»d,
dnation of wild western life had allured
him. He notice* a camp Are « a dla-
tanca and then aeea a t»-*in attached to
m wm.gr"i and at full gallop puraued by
on poniea.
CHAPTER II
The Scene ef Tragedy.
Whatever might be tbe natnre ef
the tragedy II would be over with long
before this. and those moving black
spots iway yonder to the west. that
be hrd rf' •'erned from ti * bluff, were
undoubtedly tbe departing raiders.
Tb*re wai nothing If-ft for Keith to
■ do except cie'emrilne tie fate of the
\ unfortunates, and give their bodies de-
scent burial. That ^any bad escaped,
o- yet lived, was altogether unlikely,
nrieu perchance, women had been in
the party. In which case fbey would
have been borne away prisoner*.
ronfldent that no 1 ostilea wc"ld be
le't behind to obsene hid movements.
Keith pressed steadily forward, lead-
ing his horse. He bad thus traversed
fully half a mile before coming upon
tiny evidence of a fight—here the pur-
suers had apparently come up with
the wagons, and circled out upon
either side. From their ponies' tracks
• there must have been a dozen In the
I band. Perhaps a hundred yards furth-
i er along lay two dead ponies. Keith
.examined them clcsely—both had
been ridden with saddles, the marks
•of the cln'hes plainly visible. Evi-
dently one of the wagon mules had
also dropped In tbe traces here, and
bad been dragged along by his mates.
Just beyond came a sudden depression
In the prairie down which the wagons
had plunged so heavily as to break
one of the axles; the wheel lay a few
yards away, and, somewhat to the
right, there lay the wreck of tbe wag
• on Itself, two dead mules Btill In the
traces, the vehicle stripped of con
tents and charred by fire. A hundred
feet further along was the other
wagon. Its tongue broken, the canvas
top ripped open, while between the
two werw scattered odds and ends of
wearing apparel and provisions, with
a pile of boxes smoking grimly. The
be 7eTT. Ti.ly feet Iteyohl, shot In
the back, lay a younger man. doubled
up in a heap, also scalped and deed.
That was all; Keith scouted over a
wide circle, even scanning the stretch
of gravel under tbe river bank, before
he coukl fully satisfy himself there
were ne ethers In the party. It Mess-
ed impossible that these two traveling
alone would have ventured upon such
a trip In the face of known Indian
hostility. Yet they must bare done
ae, and once again his lips muttered:
"Of all tbe blame fool*!"
Suddenly be baited, staring about
•▼er the prairie, obsessed by a new
thought, an aroused suspicion. There
bad appeared merely tbe hoof-prints
of the one bone alongside of tbe flee-
ing wagons when they first turned
out from the trail, and that horse had
been newly shod. But there were two
dead ponies lying back yonder; neith-
er shod, yet both had borne saddles.
More than this, they had been spur-
red, the blood marks still plainly vis-
ible. and one of them was branded;
be remembered it now, a star and ar-
r»w. What could all this portend?
"Was it. possible this attack whs no;
Indian affair after all? Was the dls- i
figuring of bodies, tbe scalping, mere-
ly done to make it appear the act of
ravages? Driven to Investigation by
this suspicion, he passed again ever
the trampled ground, marking this
time every separate indentation, ev-
*ry faintest Imprint of hoof or foot,
'"here was no impression of a mocca-
sin anywhere; every mark remaining
<vas of booted feet. The inference
'vas sufficiently plain—this had been
'he deed of white men, not of red; foul
murder, and not savage war.
The knowledge seemed to sear
Keith's brain with fire, and he sprang
to his feet, hands clinched and eyes
blazing. He could have believed this
of- Indians, it was according to their
nature, their method of warfare; but
the cowardliness of It. the atrocity of
the act, as perpetrated by men of bis
own race, instantly aroused within
him a desire for vengeance. He
wanted to fun the fellows down, to
discover their identity. Without
thinking of personal danger he ran
forward on their trail, which led di-
rectly westward, along the line of
cottonwoods These served to con-
ceal his own movements, yet for the
moment, burning with passion, he
|t pil6 OF DO*rn nulUKiiiK ftiiim/. 4 momcnii BUiuiug wilii pHbciuu, uc
remaining mulea were gone, and no ( was utterly without caution, without
_ — i-i 0 II f a HAmnlna/l D n V TV' hoTP aAnaA narl I Ua wina#
semblance of life remained anywhere
Keith dropped his reins over his
horse's head. and. with Winchester
cocked and ready, advanced cau-
tiously.
Death from rlolence had long sine®
become almost a commonplace occur-
rence to Keith, yet now he shrank for
an Instant ae bis eyes perceived tbe
figure of i man lying motionless
across the broken wagon tongue. Tbe
grizzled hair and beard were streaked
with blood, tbe face almoet unrecog-
nizable, while the hands yet grasped
n bent and shattered rifle. Evidently
the man had died fighting, beaten
down by overwhelming numbers after
•spending bis last shot. Then those
tends bad scalped and Wt him where
slightest sense of peril. He must
knov who was guilty of such a crime;
he felt capable of klllingnhem even as
he would venemous snakes. It was a
perfectly plain trail to follow, for the
; fugitives, apparently convinced of
; safety, and confident their cowardly
deed would be charged to Indian raid-
iers, had made no particular effort at
concealment, but had ridden away at
,a gallop, their harsee* hoofs digging
deeply Into Ihe soft turf. On this re-
treat they had folio wot cleeely along
the river bank, aiming for the ford,
and almost before h« realized It Keith
• as himself at the water's edge where
...» trail abruptly ended, *u
variety across toward tbe uppodls
j bo re Even as be stood there, real-
izing the futility of further pursuit
amid the cf sand duces opposite,
the sharp reports of two rifles reach-
ed him. spurts of smoke rose from the
farther bank, and a bullet chugged
Into the ground at his feet, while an-
other sang shrilly overhead-
Tbese shots, although neither came
sufficiently near to be alarming, serv-
ed to send Keith to cover Cool-head
ed and alert now. his first mad rage
dissipated, he scanned tbe opposite
bank cautiously, but could nowhere
diacover any evidence of life. Litt»e
by little be comprehended tbe situa-
tion, and decided upon bl* own ac-
tion. Tbe fugitives were aware of his
presence, and would prevent his
crossing the at ream, yet they were
not'at all liable to return to this side
thue reveal their Identity. To
attempt any further advance would be
madneas. but he felt perfectly secure
from molestation so long as be re-
mained quietly on the north shore.
Thoee shots were merely a warning
to keep back; the very fact that the
men firing kept concealed waa proof
positive that they simply wished to be
left alone. They were not afraid ef
what h© knew now, only desirous of
not being seen. Confident as to this,
he retreated openly, without making j
the slightest effort to conceal his
movements, until he had regained the
scene of murder. In evidence of the
truth of his theory no further shots
were fired, and although be watched
that opposite sand bank carefully, not
tbe slightest movement revealed the
presence of others. That every mo-
tion he made was being observed by
keen eyes he had no doubt, but this ;
knowledge did not disconcert him, i
row that he felt convinced fear of re-
vealmert would Veep his watchers at
a safe distance Whoever they might
be they were evidently more anxious
*o escape discovery than be was fear-
ful of attack, and possessed no desire j
to take bis life, unless It became j
neCessary to prevent recognition. J
They sti'l had every reason to believe
their attack on the wagons would be •
credited to hostile Indians, and would
consider it far safer to remain con- ]
cea'ed. and thus harbor this supposi-
tion. They could not suspect that
Keith had already stumbled upon the
truth, and was determined to verify
It.
Secure in this conception of the sit-
uation. yet still keeping a wary eye
about to guard against any treachery,
the plainsman, discovering a spade in
the nearest wagon, hastily dug a hole
In the sand, wrapped the dead bodies
in blankets, and deposited them there-
in, piling above the mound the char-
red remains of boxes as some slight
protection against prowling wolves.
He searched the clothing of tbe men,
but found little to reward the effort,
a few letters which were slipped Into
his pockets to be read later, some or-
dinary trinkets hardly worth preserv- j
ing except that they might assist in j
identifying the victims, and. about the j
neck of the elder man. a rather pe- j
culiar locket, containing a portrait ,
painted on ivory Keith was a long
time opening this, the spring being
very ingeniously concealed, but upon
finally succeeding, lie looked unon the
features of a woman of middle age.
a strong mature face of marked re-
finement, exceedingly attractive still
with smiling dark eves, and a perfect
wealth of rertdish brown hair. He
held the locket open in his hand for
several minutes, wondering who she
could be, and what possible connec-
tion she could have held with the
dead. Something about that face
smiling up Into his own held peculiar
fascination for him. gripping him with
a strange feel'ng of familiarity, touch-
ing some dim memory which failed
to respond. Surely be had never seen
the original, for she was not one to
he easily forgotten, aad yet eyes,
lair. exjT:ess:o:i ccrafc'ned to remind
Mm of some one whom he had seen
nut could not brin? definitely to mind.
There were no na*"ies on the locket,
no marks of identic cat ion of any kind,
yet realizing the sacredness of It,
Keith 'lipped the fragile gold chain
abort his neck, and securely hid the
trinket beneath bis shirt.
jt was neon by this time, tbe sun
overhead, and his horse, with
dangling rein, still nibbling daintily
at the short gr2SF There was no rea-
son for bis lingering longer He swept
b'~ gaze the length and breadth of the
desolate valley, and across the river
over the sand hills. All alike appear-
ed deserted, not a moving thing being
visible between the bluffs and the
stream. Still he l ad the unpleasant
feeling of being watched, and it made
him restless and eager to be away.
The earlier gust of anger, the spirit
of revenge, had left him, but It had
merely changed Into a dogged resolu-
tion to discover the perpetrators of
this outrage and bring tbem to Justice
for the crime. The face In tho locket
seemed to ask It of him, and his na-
ture urged response. But ho could
hope to accomplish nothing more
here, and the plainsman swung him-
self into the saddle. He turned bis
horse's head eastward, sad rode
away. From the deeply rutted trail
he looked back to where the fire still
smoked In tbe midst of that desolate
silence.
CHAPTER III
An Arrest
The Santa Fe trail war far too ex-
posed to be safely traveled alone and
In broad daylight, but Keith consid-
ered it better to put sufficient space
between himself and those whom he
felt confident were still watching his
movements from across the river.
How much they might alreadv suspi-
cion his discoveries he • o rested no
means of Rnowirj: - <•>'
their own gui
safer if W- v..
wey. TTe had no anticipation of <ine»
attack, but mutt guars against trincji
ery. As he rode, his eyes never Wt
those far-away sa^d dunes, a t ou.-fii
he perceived no movement, no bi;-
dot even which he could con<e:v° to
be a possible enemy. Now vhat he
i'0-se?<ed ample time for thought he
situfion became more puz7lins; his
Irapf-dy wl ich he had acciden'aily
stumb'ed upon mi'ff have had a rause
other than blind chance. It wn# the
(culmination of h plot, with some rea-
son b< hind more important ti.an ordi-
nary rcbhr-v Apparently the varnns
contp'rM :'otHrg of value, mete'v the
clothing, provisions. r.r.d ordinary
utensils of an emigrant party Nor
hnd the victims' po< kets been care-
fully searci ed. Only the mules had
been tai-en by the raiders, and they
world be small booty for such a
crime.
The trail, continually skirting the
| b'gh bluff and bearing farther away
| from tbe river, turned sharply into a
i narrow ravine. There was a consld-
I erable break In the rocky barrier
| here, leading back for perhaps a hun-
dred yards, and the plainsman turned
his horse that way, dismounting when
out of sight among the boulders. H«
could rest here until night wltft little
danger of discovery. He lay gp«vn on
the .rocks, pillowing his hea< on the
saddle, but his brain was too active
to permit sleeping. Finally he drew
the letters from out bis pocket, and
began examining them. They yield*
ed very little information, those tak-
en from the older man having no en-
▼elopes to show to whom they bad
been addressed. The single document
found in tbe pocket of the ether wae
n memorandum of account at th«
Pioneer Store at Topeka, charged to
John SlbleyL and marked pnld. This
r
i »
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Green, E. M. The Searchlight (Cushing, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 21, 1911, newspaper, June 21, 1911; Cushing, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc285580/m1/6/: accessed May 6, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.